Michael Welch: Response to 'stop the gun-mania'

This letter is in response to the letter in the March 11 edition of the Daily Record entitled "Stop the gun-mania madness." Let's examine some of the author's remarks:

First: It's a difficult concept for the author to understand, but operating an automobile is a privilege granted by the state while the right to bear arms is granted by God and guaranteed by the Constitution and the Supreme Court. To compare the two is like comparing apples and oranges. Whenever possible, it should be avoided.

Second: The author incorrectly compares the firearms used in some recent crimes as "assault weapons." The United States military identifies an assault weapon as "one that is capable of firing multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger." Such firearms have been strictly controlled in the U.S. since 1934. While some collectors legally possess such firearms, there only has been two people killed by legally owned assault weapons since 1934.

Third: The author says these assault-style firearms "are responsible for murdering hundreds of innocents." Not only is the author incorrect, they do not offer any numbers or facts. Firearms are not responsible for killing anyone! If we use the automobile comparison, as the author is so fond of, we don't get incarcerate cars and trucks for killing, we incarcerate people.

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In addition, most inner city victims of guns crimes are killed by handguns not assault-style firearms.

Fourth: The author incorrectly says, "that it is easier today to obtain an assault weapon than it is to obtain a driver's license." Not so if the purchase of the firearm is performed through a licensed dealer as most firearms are! The purchase of a true full-auto assault weapon requires an extensive paperwork exercise and investigation by the BATF that takes an average of six months.

The author is totally misleading the reader when they say, "That one is more likely to be shot in one's own gun-harboring home by a family member than by an outsider." In 2007, there were 613 fatal firearm accidents in the United States, constituting .5 percent of the 123,706 of all fatal accident that year.

Of the total fatal accidents, firearms rate No. 16 on the list. Why did the author fail to point out the number of times firearms were used to stop or prevent a crime? A 1994 survey conducted by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention found that Americans used guns to frighten away intruders who are breaking into their homes about 498,000 times per year. By the way, deaths from falling was No. 3 on the list, but we don't demand a license to operate a ladder!